Hair Breakage Survey

[SerenityBreeze]

My daughter's hair is natural. I flat iron it every other week. When I comb her hair, not one hair strand is broken!! Having realized this, I then looked on my bathroom floor only to see broken hairs. When I comb my hair, my floor has anywhere between 5-15 broken hairs daily. Sometimes they are about 4 inches long!! I am now begnning to focus on moisturizing my entire hair shaft vs just my ends.

Ladies, can you please share the following to help determine if there is a trend in hair breakage:

Hair Type
Natural or Relaxed
If Relaxed how often Relax
Amount of Daily Breakage
Legnth of Breakage - 1/4 in, 1/2 in, etc.
Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Just Ends, Half Hair Shaft, Whole Shaft
Frequency of Deep Moisturizing Treatments w/ Heat


I'll go First:

Hair Type: 4b
Relaxed every 8 weeks
5-15 hairs broken daily
Broken Hairs 2-4 inches
Target Areas: Before just 2" in ends, now entire shaft
Deep Treatments: Minimum once a week

Thanks!!

P.S. For those who may get shedding & breakage confused (I recently learned the difference) I am not referring to hair that sheds - those hairs come straight from the root with a little white bulb on the end, it is normal to shed approx 70 hairs daily. I am talking about small bits of hair on shoulders, floor, etc. Sigh, I just hate breakage!

 

[winterinatl]

Hair Type -3a/b
Natural or Relaxed-relaxed
If Relaxed how often Relax-every 3-4 months
Amount of Daily Breakage- 10-30 hairs, depends on how much I play in my hair(!)
Legnth of Breakage - 1/4 in, 1/2 in, etc. - ranges from 1/2 inch to 4 inches, sometimes I get long ones(shedding)
Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Just Ends, Half Hair Shaft, Whole Shaft _ Whole shaft
Frequency of Deep Moisturizing Treatments w/ Heat - I haven't used heat in a while. Mayve every month or two.

 

[simplycee]

Mostly 4a, relaxed, touch up every 10-12 weeks, more shedding than breakage, Deep condition weekly with heat, protein 1 week before and 1 week after touch up.

I also have to say that I noticed that as long as I am wearing a style where my hair stays damp (buns, french rolls, baggie) I get no breakage. I mean NONE! When I wear styles where my hair is totally dry (roller sets, wraps) I see some breakage. Not alot but enough that I noticed. I've decided to do another Emergencee treatment this weekend and wear a bun (baggie at night) for the rest of this month and see what happens. I usually moisturize daily but I'm thinking of upping my moisture to twice daily.

I've been wearing a rollerset and wrap for almost 2 weeks and the sight of hairs breaking is disturbing me. I also put myself on a 'no comb' challenge to see if the problem is combing or lack of moisture.

Serenity, I thought you were doing the baggie method. You still seeing broken hairs even while doing the baggie method?

 

[MeccaMedinah]

Hair Type- 4a
Natural or Relaxed- Natural
If Relaxed how often Relax-N/A
Amount of Daily Breakage- None
Legnth of Breakage - 1/4 in, 1/2 in, etc.- N/A
Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Just Ends, Half Hair Shaft, Whole Shaft- Whole shaft all of the time concentrating on the ends- on wash day Shea butter & aloe vera gel- nightly Oil & water spray mix
Frequency of Deep Moisturizing Treatments w/ Heat-None

 

[PrettyBrownEyes]

My answers are about identical to yours Serenity.

 

[maryj1584]

Hair Type 4a/b mostly b

Natural or Relaxed - Relaxed

If Relaxed how often Relax- 1ce every 2-3 months

Amount of Daily Breakage- about 5-10 hairs, mostly sheding, when I have my hair down. When I see breakage I bring out my protein conditioner mix and deep condition. I mostly dont have breakage when I wear my hair in a baggy, which is like 1/2 the time.

Legnth of Breakage - 1/4 in, 1/2 in, etc. 1/2 to 1 inch sometimes

Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Just Ends, Half Hair Shaft, Whole Shaft- I moisturize the whole shaft with Hollywood olive oli and focus on the ends with mango bytter

Frequency of Deep Moisturizing Treatments w/ Heat- 2ce a week sunday and
wed.

 

[CurliDiva]

Hair Type- 4a

Natural or Relaxed- Natural

If Relaxed how often Relax- NA

Amount of Daily Breakage- only when I re-braid weekly (10-20)

Legnth of Breakage - 1/4 in, 1/2 in, etc. - not sure, but it looks short

Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Just Ends, Half Hair Shaft, Whole Shaft- Whole w/ Scurl

Frequency of Deep Moisturizing Treatments w/ Heat - 2xs weekly: one-w/ cap and one w/ heat

 

[Nenah]

Can anyone share what they are using for moisture and rate it on a scale of 1 - 5. 5 being the best and so on.........



Thanks in advance

 

[JazzyFLPeach]

Hair Type 4a/4b mixed
Natural or Relaxed Relaxed
If Relaxed how often Relax 8-9 weeks but trying to learn how to stretch
Amount of Daily Breakage Approx. 5-10 hairs/day, but mostly shedding
Legnth of Breakage - 1/4 in, 1/2 in, etc. Varies 1-3 inches
Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Just Ends, Half Hair Shaft, Whole Shaft Whole Shaft
Frequency of Deep Moisturizing Treatments w/ Heat Once a week

 

[dlewis]

Hair Type 3b
Natural or Relaxed Relaxed
If Relaxed how often Relax 2 -3 month
Amount of Daily Breakage 3-5 hairs
Legnth of Breakage - 1/4 in, 1/2 in, etc. long hairs mostly shedding
Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Whole Shaft
Treatments hot oil treatment 2 weekly, very seldom w/ heat

 

[Yanna]

This is a great post because I always wonder how much breakage and shedding others are experiencing.

Hair Type: 4b

Relaxed: Just relaxed after 20 weeks of stretching. I will definitely NOT go that long again. Maybe I'll settle in at every 12 weeks.

About 5 (or less) hairs broken daily, probably because I use TONS and TONS of protein. Also I never comb my hair, I just go through it once or twice a day by hand. If I combed it I would have more. I do shed a lot though.

Broken Hairs 4-6 inches

Target Areas: The entire shaft, concentrating on the new growth.

Deep Treatments: 1 - 2 times a week with heat.

 

[Divine Inspiration]

This is a great post because I always wonder how much breakage and shedding others are experiencing.

Hair Type: 4b

Relaxed: Just relaxed after 20 weeks of stretching. I will definitely NOT go that long again. Maybe I'll settle in at every 12 weeks.

About 5 (or less) hairs broken daily, probably because I use TONS and TONS of protein. Also I never comb my hair, I just go through it once or twice a day by hand. If I combed it I would have more. I do shed a lot though.

Broken Hairs 4-6 inches

Target Areas: The entire shaft, concentrating on the new growth.

Deep Treatments: 1 - 2 times a week with heat.

Hey fellow Cali girl!!!

Ok, Serenity thank you SO much for starting this thread. I was curious about this as well...

Hair Type: 4A w/ 4B around the hair line.

Natural/Relaxed: Relaxed. Currently doing the Christmas stretch which will put me at 21 weeks post. Right now I'm 13 or 14, I've lost count.

Breakage count: I really don't know b/c I don't touch my hair every day...especially if I wear a scarf that day.I only comb my hair on wash days. I'm guessing it's between 5-10/day even though I somtimes see an accumulation on wash day that makes me freak out. I used to shed a lot, but if I take my iron like I'm supposed to, it's not really abnormal. Sept/Oct/Nov is when my hair sheds most, so I have to be mindful of that as well.

Broken hair length: The sizes vary...sometimes they're really short i.e. .5" to 2" and other times they're 4"-6" long. Mostly short though because I had an overprocessing incident last year and that hair is what's on the bottom 1/4th of my head so I expect it to be a little more fragile regardless of how much protein I give it.

Moisture Targets: I moisturize the entire head. I use a different product for each area i.e. oil scalp with WGO, moisturize length w/ Giovanni Direct & Aceite 3 oil, moisturize ends with Bonacure Repair or NTM serum, or jojoba oil etc etc.

Deep conditoning: I deep condition at least once a week...sometimes twice a week (especially with this mega stretch). I do mine with heat. I tried doing them without heat for a while, but the results were less than desirable so I went back to sitting under the dryer for a minimum of 20 minutes and that upped my moisture quotient.

 

[Yanna]

Hey Divine

 

[Cheleigh]

Hair Type: 4a mostly, some 4b
Natural or Relaxed: Transitioning--30% natural, 70% relaxed
If Relaxed how often Relax: N/A
Amount of Daily Breakage: About 5 hairs daily. I shed much more than that though.
Legnth of Breakage - 1/4 in, 1/2 in, etc.: 2-4"--it depends on the line of demarcation and where I pull out the tangled hair from the ends.

Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Just Ends, Half Hair Shaft, Whole Shaft: Whole hair shaft, focusing on the natural hair

Frequency of Deep Moisturizing Treatments w/ Heat:
Twice weekly (with heat or heating cap). I also moisturize my hair twice daily.

Moisture: homemade moisture spritz (9); cactus leave in (7); homemade concentrated hair spritz (6); grease for sealing ends (7); flaxseed gel (6); overnight plastic cap (8).

 

[brownhaired_bonanza]

You ladies actually COUNT each individual hair that comes out? I don't mean to take on a sarcastic tone or anything, but do you actually pick up each piece and count it that way? I don't know how much breakage i have or not. I shed quite a bit but it doesn't concern me because my length is maintained.

 

[mommatide]

4a/b Relaxed every 8(shooting for 12)weeks, 20-50 hairs daily some short, some with bulb attached, mosturize daily the entire shaft with keracare headress mixed with a bit of biosilk, also i put shea butter oil on ends b4 wetset. deep condition weekly with moisturefuse(a lot on newgrowth) mixed with humecto, 5in1 or kerafuse if i think i need protein, evoo on hair night b4 washing..wet set only..

 

[brownhaired_bonanza]

You ladies actually COUNT each individual hair that comes out? I don't mean to take on a sarcastic tone or anything, but do you actually pick up each piece and count it that way? I don't know how much breakage i have or not. I shed quite a bit but it doesn't concern me because my length is maintained.

I'm expecting my question to be ignored. Don't mean to get under anyone's skin.

 

[CarLiTa]

I'm expecting my question to be ignored. Don't mean to get under anyone's skin.

LoL nah... we get concerned sometimes, if it looks like it's a lot. I'll try to undo the little ball of hair, and I count it, but i dont keep count throughout the day. The little ball of hair is a reminder of what needs to be done i.e protein treatment, more moisture, remind you that you've been slacking,etc. or it can be a warning to your health, like for DivineI, if she sheds a lot, she needs to remember to take her iron... get it?

Hair type: 3b/3c
Relaxed
Touch-ups at 10-13 weeks... going for 16 this time
Daily breakage: not much at all, about 5 hairs, 10 on a bad day... but I shed like a ****
Length of breakage: usually 3inches, approximately

Daily moisturizing: i'm bad at that, b/c i can't comb my hair I mostly do ends and the top of my hair and i'll spray something on the crown and put some oil on the roots once in a while. I dont follow my regimen verbatim really.
Treatments w/ heat: not often as I'd like, but I try to have one every two weeks, sometimes I do it up, like 2x week, but that's once in a blue moon
Moisture: Motions oil, works best with wet hair, my new LOVE! EVOO!! for the roots and wet ends, my water/moisturizer/oils mixture for my stubborn crown, that i really DON'T like to deal with... that's about it, I guess... oh and I put a plastic cap on my hair at night from time to time.

I plan to get Lanza Protein Plus shampoo to give my hair more protein and hopefully slow down my shedding too.

 

[SerenityBreeze]

Thanks for all of your replies ladies,this is great , keep them comming!!

So far it is very clear that Natural hairs are much stronger than relaxed (No surprise, huh?) What a difference these relaxer's make!

It also appears that the average daily breakage for relaxed heads is approx 10 and about 2".

Our breakage does not appear to me to be from lack of moisture since we moisture daily. Also, if it were, would you agree that the average legnth of breakage then be 1/4" to 1/2"?

Do you ladies feel our breakage is because of overprocessing prior to LHCF? Are they any relaxed ladies who did a Big Chop to begin their hair care journey? If so, please post your breakage. I am interested to know if you have less breakage than the average.

Thanks Again Ladies and please keep the posts coming. I plan to put our responses on an excel sheet and do serious averages for results. (Its the accountant in me!)

Simplycee, I am on the baggie challenge, this is breakage I get when I wear my hair down.

 

[CarLiTa]

OMG Serenity, being on LHCF has decreased the amount of breakage i get. Every week, when i blowdried my hair, i'd literally have to sweep all the broken hairs up... sometimes it wasn't so bad, but there were days when it was a lot, and right away, i'd take my scissors and do a trim, every 6 weeks, not sure what i was cutting, but yeah, that website told me tha's what i shoud do, so i did it

I dont know why we get the breakage... i know that our hair is weaker than natural hair though.

I'm really looking forward to getting that Lanza shampoo and see how that works out. I'll probably get it in a week or so. I hope it does good things for my scalp and hair. I've been doing searches about it lately and the salon i go to usually have sales, like 50% off Lanza products... I can't wait to get it.

 

[Divine Inspiration]

Thanks for all of your replies ladies,this is great , keep them comming!!

So far it is very clear that Natural hairs are much stronger than relaxed (No surprise, huh?) What a difference these relaxer's make!

It also appears that the average daily breakage for relaxed heads is approx 10 and about 2".

Our breakage does not appear to me to be from lack of moisture since we moisture daily. Also, if it were, would you agree that the average legnth of breakage then be 1/4" to 1/2"?

Do you ladies feel our breakage is because of overprocessing prior to LHCF? Are they any relaxed ladies who did a Big Chop to begin their hair care journey? If so, please post your breakage. I am interested to know if you have less breakage than the average.

Thanks Again Ladies and please keep the posts coming. I plan to put our responses on an excel sheet and do serious averages for results. (Its the accountant in me!)

Simplycee, I am on the baggie challenge, this is breakage I get when I wear my hair down.

Gotta send a shoutout to my hair twin Carlita!

Serenity, before LHCF and the board I was previously affiliated with, I had breakage & shedding like you would not believe. I wasn't using the right products and I was going to the salon weekly instead of doing my hair myself. Like Carlita, I'd be sweeping hair up. It was awful. I couldn't figure out what was wrong for the life of me.
Since then, I'm not nearly as concerned with my breakage because I know I'm going to lose SOME. It would be irrational, IMO, to never expect to see broken hair...even on a natural head.
Like I mentioned in my previous post, I definitely have some ends that are from pre-LHCF days, but my deep cons & protein have saved them. They're not scraggly or thin, but because I've been on my healthy hair journey for almost a year, I know the difference between the healthy hair on my head and the hair that's been through some changes.

The spreadsheet is an excellent idea...that will provide some definitive answers to these questions that would probably prove to be useful to the ladies here. Kudos to you!

 

[FlowerHair]

Hair Type: 3c
Natural or Relaxed: Natural
If Relaxed how often Relax: ---
Amount of Daily Breakage: almost none, maybe 1-2 small pieces every time I comb my hair, which is about twice a week.
Legnth of Breakage - about 1 cm (0,4 inch)
Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Ends and front of hair.
Frequency of Deep Moisturizing Treatments w/ Heat: Never deep condition with heat, only with plastic cap 1-2 times a week.

I have sometimes had breakage after flat ironing, but since I bought my ceramic iron, I have no more breakage from that. I think it's because it's hotter so I don't have to mess with my hair for hours on end, it takes about 45 mins to straighten, about 3 strokes per piece of hair.

 

[FlowerHair]

You ladies actually COUNT each individual hair that comes out? I don't mean to take on a sarcastic tone or anything, but do you actually pick up each piece and count it that way? I don't know how much breakage i have or not. I shed quite a bit but it doesn't concern me because my length is maintained.

I don't count them, I just estimated. I guess it depends on where you brush or comb your hair. I stand by my sink, so I clearly see all the hair in the sink - mostly shedded hair so the short-short pieces stand out.

 

[simplycee]

I'm expecting my question to be ignored. Don't mean to get under anyone's skin.

I didn't ignore ya! I guess I missed it. I don't count the hairs I see but I do know what's normal for me. I guess that's why I didn't give a number. My guess is the ladies are estimating.

 

[NapturalGlory]

--------------------------

 

[shoelover1972]

You ladies actually COUNT each individual hair that comes out? I don't mean to take on a sarcastic tone or anything, but do you actually pick up each piece and count it that way? I don't know how much breakage i have or not. I shed quite a bit but it doesn't concern me because my length is maintained.

I have tried to count each hair but IMO it's really difficult for me to do

Hair Type 4a
Natural or Relaxed Relaxed
If Relaxed how often Relax Approx 20wks
Amount of Daily Breakage I'm not too sure about this question as I think most of it is shedding but when I wash my hair I see approx 10 broken hairs in the bath so this is probably the same amount I lose daily
Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Just Ends, Half Hair Shaft, Whole Shaft Just the ends but maybe I should start doing the whole hair shaft
Frequency of Deep Moisturizing Treatments w/ Heat When I visit my stylist which is either every week or every other week

 

[Sosoothing]

Hair Type : 4a/B
Natural or Relaxed: Relaxed
If Relaxed how often Relax: 8-12weeks
Amount of Daily Breakage: 0-25 hairs (varies coz I dont comb everyday)
Legnth of Breakage - 1/4 in, 1/2 in, etc.: Up to 7in
Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Whole Shaft
Frequency of Deep Moisturizing Treatments w/ Heat: At least once a week

ETA:After reading the number of hairs a person approximately loses per day, I once did try to count the hairs I lost after combing. I use that number as a reference since then and dont count them every single time.

 

[Cichelle]

Hair Type: 3b
Natural or Relaxed: Natural
If Relaxed how often Relax: N/A
Amount of Daily Breakage: None
Legnth of Breakage : N/A
Daily Moisturizing Target Areas: Whole Shaft
Frequency of Deep Moisturizing Treatments w/ Heat: I don't condition/moisturize with heat.

I cowash and wet bun everyday, sometimes with a baggie, sometimes without. My hair is damp almost all of the time.

 

[SerenityBreeze]

You ladies actually COUNT each individual hair that comes out? I don't mean to take on a sarcastic tone or anything, but do you actually pick up each piece and count it that way? I don't know how much breakage i have or not. I shed quite a bit but it doesn't concern me because my length is maintained.

Hey! Sometimes if I look down at the floor and notice more than I would like I count them and change up my regimen. After a good eight weeks of the changed regimen, I count them again to see if I have made any improvements. But, I dont count them everyday!

I just HATE to see any broken hairs. I start thinking to myself, "why did it break, was it under moisturized, was it overprocessed?, If one hair broke, would more hairs in that same area start breaking, Did I put too much tensoin on one area with hair clamps?"

When I dont see any breakae ALL IS GOOD!!

I would like to cosign with CarLita, before this site, my hair was all over the floor. I had a good 50 broken hairs every time I blowdried and everywhere I rested my head, I would leave a trace of broken hairs. Hansel and Gretel would have been able to find my house if my hairs glowed in the dark!

It seems though that for relaxed hair, breakage it is hard to avoid. I am learning from the ladies who have posted that everyone seems to moisturize their entire hair shaft --- All along I've been just doing the ends!

 

[Mitre]

I donot know if my hair is breaking but when I comb my hair under running water quite a few hair comes out. Maybe it is the relaxer I got the last time. The last time I used revlon before that I used affifm regular for 10 minutes and no hair came out. But I notice my hair getting lighter next time I am going to try dudley mild my original relaxer or manzani. As far as moisture goes if anything I am over moistuizing my hair. I think it is time for a relaxer though 16 weeks and a ton of new growth could be the problem. However I had no problem stretching before as long as I comb my hair under running water. The only thing I stopped doing was using the filter when washing my hair so from now on I will start back with the filter. Please keep posting this is a useful thread.